While rarely hitting the commercial heights of pre-1970s Hollywood, the western has nonetheless continued to chart a long-running course of well-liked, entertaining films and television dramas well into the 21st century. The mythologised ‘Old West’ remains an evocative setting for … Continue reading REVIEW: Bone Tomahawk (2015)
There is always a distinct challenge in reviewing classic cinema: titles that were widely and enthusiastically feted literally decades before half of us were born. What, after so long, is there for anyone to write or say? The late John … Continue reading REVIEW: My Darling Clementine (1946)
Fritz Lang is renowned as one of the great directors of early German cinema, making 17 features from 1919 to 1933. Some of these films are the most famous of their time, including the likes of Metropolis (1927), Woman in the Moon (1929), M (1931), … Continue reading REVIEW: Western Union (1941)
An isolated mining town hires a mysterious stranger to defend them from three approaching outlaws, only to get much more than they bargained for, in Clint Eastwood’s 1973 western High Plains Drifter. It is no surprise that Eastwood would make a … Continue reading REVIEW: High Plains Drifter (1973)
Mention the American western, and a number of names immediately spring to mind. One of them absolutely has to be Sam Peckinpah, the hugely talented director who jumped from writing and directing for television to a series of turbulently-made but … Continue reading REVIEW: Ride the High Country (1962)
Australian cinema has tackled the experience of its Aboriginal peoples for many decades, however in recent years there has been a particular increase in such films – as well as a commensurate improvement in quality. There have been excellent films … Continue reading REVIEW: High Ground (2020)
A man returns to his childhood home only to find it overrun by a criminal gang, in Michael Matthews’ bleak South African neo-western Five Fingers for Marseilles (2017). As a child, Tau’s fiercely protective attitude to his best friends leads … Continue reading REVIEW: Five Fingers for Marseilles (2017)
Jay (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is a young Scot who has travelled to America to reunite with his true love Rose (Caren Pistorius). On his journey across to the west he encounters a gunslinger named Silas Selleck (Michael Fassbender). They travel together, … Continue reading REVIEW: Slow West (2015)
Hired gun Virgil Cole (Ed Harris) is hired by the people of Appaloosa, New Mexico – along with his partner Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen) – to protect the community from the nearby rancher Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons). While his war … Continue reading REVIEW: Appaloosa (2008)
A gunslinger named Emmett (Scott Glenn) finds a dying man named Paden (Kevin Kline) in the middle of the desert. After nursing him back to health they both ride together towards a frontier town named Silverado. En route they pick … Continue reading REVIEW: Silverado (1985)
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